


Tsukkomi gone wrong

by icecreamsuki



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 04:40:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3474782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icecreamsuki/pseuds/icecreamsuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Nino, the resident tsukkomi of Arashi, gets a dose of his own medicine?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tsukkomi gone wrong

**Author's Note:**

> For people who are not familiar, the tsukkomi is the straight man in a comedy duo who exists to accentuate the boke's funniness.

It was one of those Himitsu no Arashi-chan VIP room filmings when the female guest wanted each of them to act in a situation of asking a girl out for a first date.

Aiba was being irritable at that time for a reason that he himself could not fathom, which was rare since he was usually the most energetic with his stupid antics. Maybe he was just tired; he barely slept last night because they went on location for Tensai Shimura Doubutsuen filming. He didn’t notice the voice calling him.

“Aiba-kun, it’s your turn. Aiba-kun!” Nakajima-san, one of the hosts, had been calling him for God knows how long already.

‘Yabai!’ Aiba thought. He wasn’t listening to what was going on. He didn’t pay attention to what the other four did so he was terrified that he might end up repeating what the others did. Needless to say, he was in deep panic and was struggling for words.

Nino noticed this and tried to lighten up the atmosphere. “Sumimasen, it seems like our Leader’s habit of spacing out has rubbed off on Aiba-chan.” Nino said to the guest good-humoredly and everyone laughed except Aiba.

After Aiba said his lines in a roundabout way, he covered his face acting embarrassed and turned to walk back to his seat. Good thing he played the stupid character of the group; he could act like that without anyone noticing that something was wrong, that he was actually embarrassed.

“Ah ah ah.. That’s not good, Aiba-chan. You might not get a girlfriend that way.” Nino teased with the intention of easing up Aiba’s discomfort. The female guest smiled and nervously glanced at Aiba. It was a completely natural happening for Nino to be teasing Aiba, or anyone in the group for that matter.

“Better than getting left by a girlfriend,” Aiba muttered in a low voice but clear enough for Arashi, the hosts and the guest to hear. Aiba bit his lower lip, with eyes widened. He didn’t know what kind of monster took over his voice and said those harsh words. He did not dare look at anyone but just contented himself with staring at his feet.

Back in the Shukudai-kun days, Nino always told Aiba to ‘go home’. There were times when he jokingly asked the staff to call for a taxi so Aiba could go home. Sometimes, Nino just directly tells Aiba to shut up when the latter keeps on saying stupid things. Nino was the tsukkomi character anyway; that was expected of him.

Now Nino, being used to his tsukkomi character, has rarely been on the receiving end of retorts, and from Aiba at the least. To say that he was surprised was an understatement. He was hurt. However, being the nonchalant person that he is, he just ignored it in the meantime and took it as some sort of punishment for all the snarky comments and mean retorts he has said in his lifetime. Besides, he couldn’t act hurt now; the filming must go on.

For a second, there was silence. Luckily, Sho was quick on the cover up and immediately directed a question on the guest, “Can you tell us about things you are into lately?”

The filming continued with Sho and Jun being unusually more interested in what the guest has to say. Even Ohno was increasing his normal limit of spoken words in a show. Nino was trying to keep his cool by smiling politely when necessary and even made some effort to drop little comments here and there. Aiba, on the other hand, did not dare make eye contact with anyone but still pretended to listen to the conversation. Lucky for everyone, the filming was almost over.

-|-|-|-|-|-

By the time everyone was settled in the greenroom, Nino was already motioning towards the door, carrying his stuff.

“Nino, are you going already?” Oh-chan asked as he was worried about the other half of Ohmiya SK. Aiba anxiously glanced at the two.

“Yes.” Nino simply stated as he held the doorknob.

“Want to have dinner with me?” Ohno asked expectantly. Sho and Jun watched the two, wondering where this would lead to. Aiba just listened intently as he arranged his stuff for home.

“Seriously?” Nino asked rather cynically.

“Seriously! Let’s go!” Ohno said, confident that Nino would agree. It was what the younger wanted for the longest time anyway.

“Sorry, Leader. Not today.” Nino said tersely.

“Wha—?“ Ohno was taken aback. “Why not? It’s just 7PM anyway.” He demanded.

“No. I have to go home right away.” Nino answered.

“You can go home after we eat. It won’t take long anyway. I will pay, how’s that?” Ohno pleaded.

“Oh-chan, you sound like a desperate boyfriend.” Nino teased. “Hmmmm, tempting, but no.”

“I may not agree to have dinner with you from now on even if you ask me countless times. Who knows? This may be your one and only chance.” It was Ohno’s turn to tease.

“Don’t worry, Leader, I enjoy the chase.” Nino said with his signature salute and then left, closing the door behind him.

Ohno sighed in defeat and worry and then turned to look at Sho and Jun. He walked across the room and took a seat next to Aiba who was still busying himself with arranging his stuff.

“What’s wrong, Aiba-chan?” Ohno asked meaningfully.

Yes, on the outside, Ohno Satoshi doesn’t seem leader-like at all, but with regards to internal conflict within their group, he had the ability to take matters in his own hands. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why Arashi remained intact throughout the years.

Not getting an answer, Ohno glanced at the person he was questioning and was surprised to see tears from that person’s eyes.

“Aiba-chan..” Ohno softly called.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to say that! I’ll go talk to him” Aiba’s voice was cracking as he swiftly picked up his bag and rushed towards the door.

“Good luck..” Ohno whispered even with Aiba already gone. The remaining three heaved a collective sigh.

“Is it okay to just leave it up to them?” Sho asked. Jun looked at Ohno uncertainly, expecting an answer from their leader. Ohno merely smiled serenely.

-|-|-|-|-|-

Nino didn’t bother buying dinner. He wasn’t one to care about food anyway, not when other things were troubling his mind. As he reached his apartment, he boiled enough water for his usual pack of instant noodles and rested in the couch for a while, eyes closed. He didn’t bother turning on the light since he felt more peaceful in the dark. Furthermore, he didn’t want to increase his electricity expenses; he was just stingy that way. The full moon was enough to help him find his way around his apartment anyway.

As the kettle sounded up, he immediately motioned to pour the boiling water to the supposed cup of instant ramen. However, as he searched in his cupboard and his groceries, he couldn’t find anything, not even a shadow of a cup of instant noodles.

Nino just sighed in defeat. “The punishment still continues, huh?” he muttered.

Sighing, he just took his acoustic guitar and wiped away the dust that had been accumulating on it. Being busy with movie promotions, filming, guest appearances, magazine interviews and recordings for Arashi’s new album, Nino had neither the time nor the inspiration to play.

That night, however, it was different.

That night, enjoying the nostalgic feel of the guitar strings on his fingertips, and borrowing what little light the moon could provide his dreary apartment, he strummed to a familiar tune.

-|-|-|-|-|-

Meanwhile, Aiba took the train leading him to the area where Nino lives. He ran the whole length of the train station up to Nino’s apartment building, stopping for a few seconds once in a while just to grant his body’s need for oxygen and rest.

He was panting wildly by the time he reached the entrance to Nino’s apartment building. Knowing the exact location of Nino’s apartment, Aiba looked up but found that the window was dark.

“Eh? Nino’s not home yet?” Aiba whispered, asking no one in particular. Still, not knowing where else to look for the younger man, he went up to Nino’s apartment. As he was about to knock on the door, he heard a painfully familiar tune and voice coming from inside.

_Kimagure demo ii aishiteru to uso o tsuite_   
_Ima wa tada kanaerarenai yume o mite nemuru kara_

_(It's okay if it's only a whim, just lie and say that you love me_   
_Right now I'll just sleep, dreaming a dream that can never come true)_

Aiba stayed outside and listened until the song ended. It was Yume, the song Nino sang at their How’s it Going concert. An image of Nino’s crying face flashed in Aiba’s mind along with the younger’s breaking voice as he sang the song onstage. Aiba got weak on his knees, slid along and leaning on the closed door and squatted on the floor as tears unconsciously rolled along his cheeks.

He felt guilty. It was his fault that Nino remembered that heartbreaking incident. It was his stupid mouth’s fault!

Suddenly, the door opened and Aiba almost fell back from his position. He was startled and ended up hitting his butt on the doorway.

“Aiba-chan! Are you alright? What are you doing here?” Nino was surprised as he helped Aiba get up.

Aiba turned, clutched Nino’s shirt and buried his face on Nino’s chest, wailing loudly. “Go- gomen ne, Nino-chan! I- I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” Aiba still continued sobbing as Nino just rubbed Aiba’s back, making the taller man calm down.

“Eh? You’re still crying? You should accept more drama roles, you know? You can cry instantly! The producers and directors would be happy..” Nino mused. Aiba looked up and pouted as he wiped away his tears.

“It’s okay, Aiba-chan. It’s okay, really. It made me realize that I should lessen my meanness to you guys, and that those painful memories from before are what make me who I am today.” Nino smirked.

“I also realize that I already suck at playing the guitar! It’s frustrating! I need more practice. I think I have been paying too much attention on games and card magic lately.” Aiba merely chuckled.

“You know what else I realized?” Nino asked Aiba slyly, with a scary gleam from the younger’s eyes.

“W-what?” Aiba gulped, afraid of what was coming.

“I realized that I have no more food in this God-forsaken apartment. My stomach is already grumbling. Luckily, I found someone who’s paying for my dinner tonight.” Nino winked.

-|-|-|-|-|-

As they were quietly eating in a ramen place nearby, Aiba remembered something.

“Ne, Nino-chan, why didn’t you accept Leader’s request for dinner a while ago? You’ve been pestering him for ages, why decline now?” Aiba asked, not looking away from his ramen bowl.

“Hmmm?” Nino was too busy slurping his noodles to bother answering the question.

“I thought you were really mad at me and that you were in a really bad mood that’s why you didn’t go out with Leader.” Aiba muttered.

Silence ensued as they finished their ramen up to the last piece of noodle and the last drop of soup.

“Gochisousama deshita” they chorused.

Aiba paid for the two of them, of course. Why? Nino left his wallet in his apartment, of course.

As they were walking away from the ramen place, Nino finally answered Aiba’s question.

“Because I want him to feel what it feels like when an invitation gets rejected. I want him to feel what it feels like when an excuse like ‘not today, I have to go home right away’ is used on him.” Nino smirked.

“But mostly, I want to still be able to continue pestering him to have dinner with me. Like I said, I enjoy the chase.” Nino said with a self-satisfied smile plastered on his face.

Aiba merely rolled his eyes and thought ‘So much for lessening the meanness,’ but he didn’t dare say it out loud.

**Author's Note:**

> The Ohmiya dinner issue is from Nino's guesting in Oshareism. Nino said that Ohno's usual excuse for not having dinner with him is "Kyou chotto dame da.. Kyou chotto ie ni kaeranakya ikenai." hahaha! : )  
> and here's a link for Nino's version of Yume when he was crying :  
> http://fuckyeahnino.tumblr.com/post/231447349/ninomiya-kazunari-yume-live-crying


End file.
